My mom was an insurance agent (a damn good one) for many years and retired at the end of 2024. She spent the first six to eight months of her retirement working harder than she had at her day job, as she and my dad moved from South Carolina to Virginia. Last year, they landed about twelve minutes up the road from me, and she was finally able to settle into retirement. When she first considered leaving the workforce, I think she was a bit scared. Mom is one of the hardest wor

For our anniversary, my husband and I spent the day exploring a local antique mall. Even before we started dating, visiting antique stores has been one of our favorite activities. As a woman with literary interests, I have always enjoyed looking through paper goods—postcards, letters, photographs, and books. Front cover of book On this particular trip, I found a little book called Oaksmere Mrs. Merrill’s School for Girls. The cover was hanging on by just a few threads, but th

This year has gotten away from me. At the beginning of the year, I decided that I was going to cut back on the frequency of my blogs. This has given me the freedom to focus on querying Called from Darkness, start another novel project, and support budding writers. I love writing and supporting writers, especially those who are just starting their journeys. I still have a long way to go on my path to publishing, but I’ve had quite a few short stories, essays, and articles publ

The seventh draft is done, and it’s time to stop making excuses. I’ve been writing a book, Called from Darkness, since I was about sixteen years old. It started with a nightmare I had while visiting my grandmother on her farm in rural North Dakota's Great Plains. I shelved it for a decade and came back to it about two years ago. I kept the characters and the major plot elements, but I fleshed it out into something deeper and darker than my sixteen-year-old brain could have

I’m tired of people saying Lynchburg is boring. Just in the past month, I’ve enjoyed an excellent community theater production of Newsies; a concert from the Vitamin String Quartet; a fall festival with two corn mazes, a tractor ride, and a pumpkin patch; rave bingo; a hike through rolling hills and pastoral views; and an excellent meal at an authentic Peruvian restaurant. And these are just the highlights. No matter where you live, there is joy and excitement to be found.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of presenting on email marketing for authors at the Virginia Writers Club (VWC) Annual Symposium. Over...

I wanted to give up writing this week. I’ve been incredibly busy at work. I’m the Senior Marketing Copywriter for an education company...

When I sit to write, I’m distracted. Right now, Bear (my 100-pound golden shepherd) is lying on the couch with his head in my lap....

The vikings beat longswords on their shields and erupted into a battle cry. Like the tide pouring in, the warriors rushed from their...

Nothing moves me the way organ music does. On Sunday, I had the privilege of hearing one of the last songs of the great Schantz pipe...

I didn’t know if I would post a blog this week. I haven’t had much time for writing outside of work, and my creative well is dry—in part...

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m currently reading Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer. It’s a retelling of the first book in the Twilight...

My mom always says I’m a great tour guide. Whenever she and my dad come to visit me in Central Virginia, I always have an itinerary of...

When was the last time you did something that scared you? I’ll go first. Last weekend, I participated in an author festival at my local...

I've been getting my work published in print publications since I was 18 years old. My first published work was in Teen Ink , a literary...

Happy Holidays! Whatever occassion you celebrated, I hope you had a wonderful time filled with family and friends. I’ve tried over and...

It has been a few weeks since I’ve blogged—how do I do this again? At several points throughout the year, I’ve thought myself crazy for...

I’m in a festive mood. The leaves are changing, the weather is crisp, and I have been drinking pumpkin spice protein coffee nearly every...

My husband and I have a little inside joke—at least, I think that’s the category it would fall into. Whenever we have experiences that...

Some of my earliest memories involve writing. I grew up spending summers at the pool. My brother and I were both on our neighborhood...